New York – Food & Travel Diary – Part 2

It’s been a while since I posted a travel blog, and I thought today was better then any to do so. I’ve just had an awesome day doing the Bay Run in the sun, and then heading down to the Fish Markets for some fresh sashimi a ginger beer, and a leisurely lie on my friends boat..Long live the weekend, shame it is nearly over.

Our travel time in New York seems like a distant memory with this year just flying past. It’s time to relive those memories again and to start off you can have a read of my first New York post here. This blog post follows on with more photos from our 10 days spent in the Big Apple last October.

The streets of New York…Beauty among the beast sky scrapers.

W53ST.

Financial district Nasdaq building.

Times Square madness.

M&M World is in Times Square, with Hershey World just around the corner as well. I’m not a fan of Hershey’s so didn’t bother with purchasing anything there, but I couldn’t resist trying the huge variety of M&Ms.

You can help yourself and pick any of the flavours that you want, my favourite was the pretzel with its salty sweetness.

Kitchenette – Tribeca

We visited this cute cafe in Tribeca on our way to visit Ground Zero (September 11 Memorial) one morning. The cafe is extremely girly with a homely, welcoming feel which is the perfect atmosphere when you’re living far away from home. We took a seat on the bench where there are tempting cakes and treats inside cloches to eye off whilst you decide on what to eat. The menu is full of kitschy Southern cooking options from eggs done many ways, to morning grains and fruit and then a wide range of items from the griddle, which I learnt is a pan for cooking the likes of pancakes and french toast. The serving sizes are relatively big as well so you wont be going hungry for a long while, its the fuel needed to walk the lengthy streets of Manhattan.

You can’t really see it in the photos, but all of the table tops were made from old doors. There were tempting cakes galore from our vantage point.

We start with some tea beverages in the glass jars, I have the Iced Tea with Milk on the side. Fresh iced tea is commonly found on menus in the US, you can also request how much sugar you want which is good for those of us that love ice tea without the added sugar that you commonly find in the bottle variety.

Ana goes for the Iced Tea with Lemon.

Egg White Omelette with Tomato, Herbs and Goats Cheese served with a Biscuit on the side, which is a scone like bread. I tired a bit of Ana’s biscuit and can’t say that I really enjoyed it, maybe by itself with some jam but not alongside eggs.

Side of crispy thin Bacon.

I on the other hand go for a sweet breakfast with a bowl of Oatmeal, Banana and Raisins, which is served with a side of Cinnamon Toast and a Sweet Butter. I really liked how the cinnamon is swirled through the toast and the sweet butter (which I’m pretty sure is just sugar and butter whipped), is a perfectly tasty/but unhealthy addition to the meal :).

The Meatball Shop – Williamsburg

The Meatball Shop is a casual style eatery found in a few different locations around Brooklyn & Manhattan. The menu is all about simple and deliscous food, that anyone can alter and change to please their liking. The menu is made up of an assortment of meatballs (beef, pork, chicken, vegetable and a daily special), which you then select a sauce to go with (tomato, spicy meat, mushroom gravy, parmesan cream, pesto) and then a choice of sides (heaps of different greens and roast vegetables, white beans, risotto, polenta, rigatoni, mashed potatoes or spaghetti). You can also order the family jewels which is a fried egg on top of the whole meal. Boom, tuck into a plate of simple, sustainable food which can be as healthy or as unhealthy as you want it.

We visited for a really early dinner at about 5.30pm and had no problem getting a table, but by the time we left the place was packed out with the after work crowd.

Even the cocktails are done simply with my Margarita coming out in a copper cup.

My plate of goodness consists of three Spicy Pork Meatballs with the Traditional Tomato Sauce, Beetroot and Rocket Salad, Chickpea Salad and the Family Jewels (Fried Egg) on top.

Ever so full I couldn’t fit in dessert, but they have this cool idea where you can pick and choose your own ice cream sandwich. Choose your cookie flavour (choc chip, peanut butter, brownie, snickerdoodle, ginger snap or daily special) and then your house-made ice cream flavour (chocolate, vanilla, espresso, mint, caramel or daily special) and the put it all together into an ice-cream sandwich for you. If choosing right now I would definitely do the ginger snap & vanilla combo or a brownie with mint combo.

I’ve read recently that a Meatball & Wine Bar has opened up in Melbourne on Flinders Lane and in Richmond with a very similar concept, good to know that I can relive a similar experience on my next trip down south. Check out their website http://www.meatballandwinebar.com.au/ to find out more about them.

Buddakan – Chelsea

After appearing in the first Sex and the City movie, Buddakan has become a bit of an institution and restaurant that many people want to eat at during their time in New York. Having booked a table (this is a must), I was amazed when we arrived at how big the venue actually is, there isn’t just one or two maitre d’s at the door ushering people to their tables, but about five or 6 all behind computers ensuring that everything runs smoothly .

In the movie this is where Carrie and Mr Big hold their rehearsal dinner before their wedding. The whole venue is sophisticated and swanky looking, with the interior just fulfilling all of those stereotypical ideas I had in my head of the New York restaurant scene.

Ana Banana.

…and myself. I warn you now that the venue is quite dark, hence the low quality of my photos. The photos do not do the food justice, but trust me on this we loved every single thing that we ordered.

Buddha Buddha Buddha.

The wait staff were wonderful and knew the menu back to front, also assisting in choosing a bottle of wine to accompany our meal. Ana had eaten here a few times before so it was good to have someone who could order the best things off the menu. We start with an entree of the Peking Duck Salad with Frisee, Poached Egg and a Sherry Vinaigrette. The whole menu is made to share, so we decide on getting two entrees and two mains between us.

The oozing egg yolk acts as a perfect salad dressing alongside the vinaigrette.

The Chili Rock Shrimp with Toasted Ginger was definitely a memorable dish from the night. The pieces of prawn are coated in a light batter and then dressed in a spicy mayonnaise sauce.

Since both of us love spicy food, it was the waiters choice to have the Kung Pao Monkfish with Chili-Szechuan Sauce and Peanuts. The monkfish is lightly fried and topped with the sticky, spicy and crunchy sauce.

Although the monkfish was a beautiful, the Sizzling Short Rib with Mushroom Chow Fun and Asian Pear was out of this world. The meat was extremely tender and literally broke apart when the spoon went through it. The mushrooms added a deep flavour as they as they were wok fried in a soy sauce with the pear adding a nice bit of freshness and sweetness.

On the side we order the Asian Greens Stir Fry with Pine Nuts and Garlic Chips.

For those of you that have seen the movie, you will definitely recognise this long table. Overall I would say that this was one of my favourite meals in the US, followed closely by STK in Los Angeles and Pastis in the Meatpacking district. The restaurant has aced the Asian Fusion menu and if I was to suggest anywhere that did this type of food well in Sydney/Melbourne, it would have to be Spice Temple.